Roopa Mishra

Roopa Mishra Interview

Roopa Mishra, the Indian Administrative Service examination topper for 2003, on
Saturday said she strongly believed in leading by example.

"I aim to make a difference. It is not whether you are a man or a woman, but the
kind of person you are what's important," Mishra, 27, said.

"The kind of spirit I have in me, I would do in the same way whether I am a man
or woman," she said replying to queries from reporters at her parents'
Shahidnagar residence in Bhubaneswar.

Mishra attributed her success to her faith in God and handwork put in for around
ten months. She credits her husband Anshuman Tripathy, parents, in-laws and
teachers also for the same.

"My husband is my friend and he initiated me into this system of examination,"
she said. Tripathy is a fellow at the IIM, Calcutta.

On her success in the Union Public Service Commission-conducted examination,
Mishra said many factors went into

making a person successful, but one mistake could make everything crash.

The topper said she had done very well in the exam, but didn't expect to top the
list. "It came as a bonus."

The news of her topping the exam came from a career magazine's office."I was
thrilled, I wept," Mishra, the daughter of Danda Nirodh Mishra, an IAS officer,
said.

Mishra studied science at the plus-two level and then switched to commerce,
completing her post-graduation in management from Utkal University.

She briefly worked for a local TV channel anchoring programmers and taught at
the Directorate of Distant and

Continuing Education of the Utkal University. She married three-and-half years
ago.

Asked whether she ever dreamt of becoming an IAS officer, a beaming Rupa said:
"Not exactly but I had many dreams at different times."

Mishra, who had public administration and psychology as her subjects, stayed in
Delhi for ten months to prepare for the exam. "It is very important to chose
subjects with care and I chose public administration as it is relevant and
psychology as it deals with human behaviour which is interesting," she said.

Replying to a question as to why she chose to join thecivil service when she
had a degree in management, Mishra said:

"I believe the civil servant is the biggest manager of all."

As regards her preparation, she said she did not slogbut had a clear idea as to
how she would go about it.